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American boys wore a variety of outfits to school which were affected by their age which more or less translates to grade level. As most schools did not have uniforms, the clothes they wore were essentially the same as the their ordinary clothes. This varied as children in the cities tended to dress up for school until after the 1920s-30s. Dress tended to be somewhat different in elementary (primary) and secondary schools. And there were substantial changes over time concerning dress conventions. Schools tended to allow the parents determine how to dress the children, although social conventions were important in the 19th and early-20 century. Although uniforms were not common, many schools in the 20th century adopted dress codes. We begin to see the younger children dressing informally while boys in high schools continued to wear suits (1930). Gradually clothing became more casual in high schools as well (1950s). Boys mostly wore long pants to school in the 19th century. This began to change in the late-19th century as knee pants became more common. At the turn-of-the 20th century we even see boys in high schools wearing knee pants. Knickers became standard (1910s). Gradually teenagers even younger teens wearing long pants. Knickers were still common in elementary schools through the 1930s. Younger boys might wear short pants. Long pants became standard throughout the schools (1950s). We begin to see boys in elementary (primary) schools beginning to wear short pants again (1970s). This varied regionally. We see more uniforms at the same time, in both parochial and inner-city elementary schools. Long baggy shorts appear in high school (1990s). Following school trends is helpful in identifying fashion trends as we have class portraits, manning a close age group, showing a range of fashion which can often be dated.
Age 5 years means Kindergarten. But this dis not become rally important until after World War II. An important factor here was the level of female participation in the work force.
Age 6 years is when most American children begin elementary (primary) school in the 1st Grade. Some will turn 7 years before the school year is over. With 6 year olds we commonly see how mothers wanted to dress their children. Many children at this age had limited contact with other children outside of the family. Thus we see changes after the 1st grade with the children wanting to dress more like the other children. Ar 1st grade what mom wanted generally went, but gradually this changed as the children got older. Chronological changes were also important. As children began to have more say over how they were dressed. This was more the case for older children. We see some Fauntleroy influences in the late-19th century, but usually not the classic Fauntleroy suits. Girls wore dresses. After the turn of the 20th century we see styles like tunic suits and sailor suits. Some boys wore variously styled blouses. Bows were common, but much smaller than the huge bows worn during the Fauntleroy era. Girls still wore dresses. Blouses and skirts were not common. Hair bows were notable in the 1910s. After World War I in the inter-War era, boys wore a range of short pants and knickers. The boys here are a good example (figure 1). School wear was becoming more casual. After World War II, we still see 1st graders wearing short pants, but by the 1950s, long pants began to dominate even in the 1st grade. We begin to see girls wearing blouses and skirts. Long pants dominated for several decade, although we see some boys wearing shorts in the Southern states. We begin to see boys beginning to wear shorts again (1970s). This reflected the increasingly casual dress conventions and the popularity of sports wear.
Age 13 years was the last year for many American children to attend school. In he 19th and early 20th century, many if not most children attended 8-year primaries. And most children did not go on to high school until well into the 20th century. Of course a factor here was that until the 1920s, most Americans lived in rural areas. And thus if even they wanted to, there was not a nearby high school that they could attend. We do not have a great deal of information on the 19th century, but by the 1890s we do begin to see images as school photography was becoming an established tradution. Most teenagers, even younger teens, were wearing long pants in the 1870s, but by the 1880s, knee panys were becoming more important and by the 90s we see 13 year olds wearing knee pants to school. After the turn of the 20th century, knee pants were standard school wear for 13 year olds, except in rural areaas. Boys shifted to knickers in the late-1900s decade and knickers were standard school wear during the 1910s and 20s for 12 year olds. This began to change as we see more and more boys wearing long pants in the 1930s, especially the late-30s. Elementary school was becoming standardized at six grades. School wear was becoming increasingly more formal. Most 13-year olds were wearing long pants to school in the 1940s. There were also shifts in school organization, depending on the state. Children 10-13 years old (5th-8th grade) might be assigned to middle or junior high schools to ease the transition between elementary and high schools. We see athletic type shorts becoming popular in elementary school during the 1970s, but 13-year old generally wore long pants withnsomev regional/seasonal variation.
Age 14 years is when children begin high (secondary) school. This was not a major step during the 19th century because so few boys attended high schools. This gradually increased over time, but only in the 20th century do we begin to see really large numbers of children attending high schools. Most boys wore suits in high schools. This was primarily long pants suits, but by the the late-19th century, most 14-year olds were wearing knee pants suits. This continued into the early-20th century even after American boys began wearing knickers (1910s).
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